Christ-Centered Parenting Online Bible Study | Session 5

UPDATE: This Study Has Finished And Videos Have Been Removed. You Can Purchase The Video Bundle Here.

Welcome to Session 5 of the Christ-Centered Parenting online Bible study! This week, we learned how to be one step ahead of our kids when discussing sexuality. Let us know what you learned this week in the comments!

If you have any questions about how this study works, check out our Online Bible Study FAQs. As a reminder, we’ll leave the videos up until October 31, 2018. After that you can purchase or rent video sessions here.

Before we jump into Session 5, we’d love to hear more about what you learned last week walking through Week 4: Sexuality in your Bible study book. Answer one or both of these questions in your group or in the comments below!

Do you have a “no shame” culture in your home where every question is OK to ask? Explain. How do you build that kind of culture? (page 96)

What are some actions you can take to combat pornography in your home? Which of these actions are you currently doing?

After watching the video, answer one or more of these questions in your group or in the comments below to participate in the discussion with our friends around the world!

How much should you speak into your child’s friendships? How can you help your child build lasting friendships? (page 124)

How can you help your child walk through break-ups and friendship dissolutions? (page 125)

Before watching the next video, complete Week 5, Relationships, in the Bible study book. See you next week!

Comments

I believe the relationship you build over time with your children shows them they can come to you about anything. I do not believe in being my childs “friend”, so they may not like my answer to their question but if they can feel that no matter what they are going through they will be loved and accepted then the children will be more open with you. I try to duplicate my parents in their style of parenting. I always felt like I could talk to them about what was happening in my life. Sometimes I did not like their response or their may have even been consequences to my actions but I knew they would be their for me either way.

Pornography is something to this day I feel is a very taboo topic in my life and in my home. It was never discussed or even mentioned when I was growing up and to be honest I do not really discuss either. At this point in time, we have only fostered young children so it has not been an issue. But with older kids and teens I do recognize this may be an issue. Of course their are parental controls on tv and computers but in the end if an older child seeks it out they will be able to find it. So I believe the best way to try to keep it out of your home is to overcome my issues and be able to discuss and discuss why it is not allowed in our home. As we care for foster children only our values may not be what they were taught so this could be a struggle.

I believe showing your child what true friendship is by having good friends in your life and being a good friend to others sets the stage for what your child will seek in a friendship. I do believe it is my responsibility to speak to the friendships they have if they are getting in with the wrong crowd. In todays world with drugs, violence and bullying it is very easy to get caught up. In our area we have already had several teen suicides since school started a couple months ago. So it is my job to be involved in their life, build a relationship of respect so when I voice a concern about a friend it is actually heard.

Going through the loss of a friend or relationship is hard at any age. I lost my boyfriend to a car accident when I was 30 and it was the hardest thing I have ever been through. But my friends and family were there through it all to help guide me. Allowing them to grieve the loss is very important even if it is a 2 week relationship they didn’t seem serious. It was serious to them and they need to grieve. I believe allowing a child to grieve the small things in life will teach them it is ok to grieve the big losses.

Thank you so much for sharing this, Mandy. We’re so sorry for your loss when you were 30, but we’re so grateful that you speak into your children’s lives the way you do. Your perspective on friendships, respect, and how you’re involved with their lives is so very important!

For a child to feel they can come to you with any question they must feel they can trust you and be comfortable in your relationship. This will take time to grow. For my wife and I we care for foster children so it is more difficult to build trust as they have learned to not trust adults who should be caring for them. In our home with find time every day to have a face to face chat with each child. It may be on the ride to sports practice or before bed, but a few minutes to check in and see how they are doing starts to show them you care and build that relationship.

My wife and I do not have pornography in the home but we know that depending on the age of a child placed this could be an issue. We do have house rules we go over when a child arrives. We have parental controls on technology but in todays world this is so easy to find and if not in our home they have access to friends etc. So teaching why it is not allowed is important.

We have all had that friend our parents just didn’t approve of. If we look back most of the time they were more than likely correct about them. I believe showing my children through actions of how to be a good friend and what to expect from a good friend sets the stage for their relationships. But they also will learn on their own sadly that not everyone is a good friend and sometimes you don’t see that till its too late.

When a child or teen has a break up or a friendship doesn’t last it can be very hard. I moved away to live in England for awhile as a child and left all of my friends. It was very hard to make new friends there as well as when I returned to the states. I feel it is important to involve your child in activities they enjoy so they can develop friendships more easily with those they share interests with. And my wife is correct they need time to grieve a loss as well.

Hey Bryan, thank you for sharing your story! This is so good: “I feel it is important to involve your child in activities they enjoy so they can develop friendships more easily with those they share interests with.”

1. Yes, I have “no shame” culture in my home where every question is OK to ask from my kids. I tell my kids I will be honest with them and in return they need to be honest with me. They know that they can trust me too! I build this kind of culture by engaging with them developmentally and answer any question they have truthful and honestly.

2. Some actions that I can take to combat pornography in my home would be to protect them first and foremost from the world wide web. I would set some boundaries and parameters on things, such as, their iPad’s and the TV, and not let them alone with them either. I also want to talk to them about addiction, grace and compassion when they do struggle so they know it is OK, we are prone to sin but following God’s plan is the way we will live our lives. Right now, the actions that I am currently doing are setting the boundaries and parameters on what they look at on the internet by having the parental block on.

After Session 5 Video:

1. I think I definitely should be apart of speaking into my child’s friendships. I can very much influence how they feel and how they recognize their certain friendships. I want to instill in them and help them build lasting friendships by understanding its not the quantity of friends they have, but the quality. Its OK to have 1 or 2 really good friendships as long as they are strong ones and they can praise God for those couple.

2. I can help my child walk through break-ups and friendship dissolutions by being honest and vulnerable with them. They will get hurt at some point in these friendships and this doesn’t define their identity. I want to teach them what to do when something like this happens because we are prone to sin and get angry about it so I want to model them how to handle a situation such as a break-up or a friendship falling apart.

Thank you for sharing, Marissa! LOVE your perspective and especially your thoughts here: “I can help my child walk through break-ups and friendship dissolutions by being honest and vulnerable with them. They will get hurt at some point in these friendships and this doesn’t define their identity. I want to teach them what to do when something like this happens because we are prone to sin and get angry about it so I want to model them how to handle a situation such as a break-up or a friendship falling apart.”